{"id":640,"date":"2020-04-20T10:22:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T14:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sage-people-scraping-ca.local\/?p=640"},"modified":"2025-05-07T10:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:05:25","slug":"5-steps-drive-hr-strategy-times-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/5-steps-drive-hr-strategy-times-change\/","title":{"rendered":"5 steps to drive HR strategy forward in times of change"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t5 steps to drive HR strategy forward in times of change\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Headashot\t\t\t\tCharlotte Penny<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

HR and People teams are no strangers to hard work. In fact, in
these unprecedented times, we know you\u2019re working harder than ever to support your
organization in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we all know the feeling of being often all too busy
focusing on the day-to-day job, especially in challenging times, that the
strategy can get forgotten, or just isn\u2019t as relevant as it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s often too easy, too, to wrongly push your health and
wellbeing to the wayside, leading to a drop in productivity and in the worst
case, burnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it\u2019s time for a reset, or simply a realignment. So, what
can HR leaders do to drive strategy forward, all whilst maintaining
productivity and avoiding burnout? Here\u2019s our five steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Be clear about where you are with your strategy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

How\u2019s
your strategy really shaping up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start
by taking a benchmark of where your company and your team is according to your
HR roadmap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think
of the \u2018stop, start, continue\u2019 approach. What hasn\u2019t worked? What do you now
need to address? What do you want to achieve?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This
will help you to confirm any gaps, especially in light of any challenges you\u2019ve
had since your strategy was last updated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk it through with your team. Are you where you wanted to be with your strategy? Importantly, are your HR and People team where they wanted to be in addressing it? Which brings us to our second point\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Check you\u2019re aligned to the rest of the business<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If
you\u2019ve decided that your strategy is no longer supporting what you want to achieve,
other teams in your organization are likely to be feeling the same way about
their strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speak
to the rest of the C-suite and understand what changes they\u2019re making to their
respective strategy. Make sure you\u2019ve reflected any updates in your
organization\u2019s business strategy<\/a> too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t
disregard the helpfulness of the business strategy in updating your HR
strategy. It\u2019s not cheating \u2013 it\u2019s making sure you\u2019re aligned to the rest of
the organization and working towards a common goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking the pulse of the rest of the business will ultimately help you decide whether it\u2019s a case of tearing up the strategy and starting again, or re-working it to address the changes happening in your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Adapt the HR and People strategy if you need to<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your
original HR and People strategy may still be valid and relevant on the whole
but it\u2019s important to check that you\u2019re still in line with what you want to
achieve as a function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,
there really is no harm in changing it if, unfortunately, certain aspects of
your strategy are no longer possible or no longer aligned to the rest of the
business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If, in
the wake of Covid-19, your priorities have changed or if you have a remote
workforce, it may not be relevant to update your HR strategy considerably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For
instance, you need to move forward on wellbeing initiatives, or review all
policies in line with the shifts happening in the way you work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve identified what might need to change, check in with each member of your HR team, either as a group or individually, to discuss it. Do they agree with the shift in approach? If not, is there anything that\u2019s being overlooked? It\u2019s important to make sure the team is on the same page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Set new or updated goals and objectives for your team \u2013 both short and long term<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To
succeed in delivering against your strategy in times of change, your HR team
will need clear goals and objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If
you\u2019ve decided to amend the way you do things, it\u2019s likely that your team\u2019s
goals and objectives might need some amending too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For
example, if your team were focused on driving office-based experiences and now
the majority of your employees are working remotely, then it\u2019s likely you\u2019ll
want to adapt your approach so that it\u2019s more inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the
function who encourage development and goal setting, you\u2019ll also be no
strangers to what you need to do to act on your vision, but be mindful of the
need for both short and long-term goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Particularly
in difficult times, employees can often fall into extremes of feeling either
completely overworked or under-utilized and HR teams are no different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reasonable
timeframes and open conversations with each team member about the changes will
highlight what is reasonable and fair to expect. It\u2019ll help your team to stay
on track and productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.
Don\u2019t forget about your HR team\u2019s wellbeing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The
final but most important thing for you, as an HR and People leader, is to
ensure your HR team feel supported through change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, your HR team are still employees. Don\u2019t let them fly under the radar when it comes to employee stress and burnout<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s supporting your team to avoid burning the midnight oil, or making sure they\u2019re not inundated with additional work brought up by employees or other departments, the wellbeing of your team<\/a> is imperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure
to check in regularly to see how they are feeling, to ask if they need help
with anything and give them the opportunity to raise any concerns they have.<\/p>\n \n

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The changing face of HR<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Download this free report from Sage and discover how the modern HR function is vital to an organization’s growth and success<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet your free report<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Colleagues\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Subscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Get a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In these ever-changing times, here are five steps to help keep your company on the right track\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1660,"featured_media":8127,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_schema_page_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_schema_article_type":"","_sage_video":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"22","sage_membership_post_content_type":"article","sage_membership_post_featured_video_id":"","sage_membership_post_video_type":"trailer","sage_membership_post_featured_video_duration":"","post_featured_image_hide":false,"sage_hide_published_date":false,"sage_hide_read_time":false,"sage_hide_share_buttons":false,"_pwl_sage_podcast_buzzsprout_src":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"business_type":[99],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[76],"imagine_tag":[234],"coauthors":[327],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employing-people","business_type-medium-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Charlotte Penny","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-620921835.jpg","imagine_tags":{"234":"HR"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1660"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/8127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}